REVIEW: Deeper Graves - Pull Me Toward The Dark
- Naomi Colliar Duff
- 14 hours ago
- 4 min read
Picture a cityscape in the throes of winter. You stand, leaning against the cold concrete walls of a dark alleyway, cigarette to your lips as you gaze out onto the night’s lonely streets. The wind whistles through the gaps between buildings, and sirens sound far off in the distance, as if just to fill the quiet. Maybe it’s a sign; you’re not alone. Sometimes, though, you can be in a city of people and still feel deeply isolated. These are the scenes that DEEPER GRAVES has us envisioning. The solo project of JEFF WILSON (CHROME WAVES, CONTRITION) had its last full-length release in 2022, and is back after four years with Pull Me Toward The Dark. This is an album steeped in melancholy, a post-punk piece dripping with unease that captures us in its atmosphere as soon as the first note seeps through the speakers.
The album starts off slow with Misunderstood, carrying a soaring, sombre melody that builds up slowly, reverberating sounds overlaid. It’s a short piece that contrasts the rest of the album not just in its length - around a minute, compared to the five or six minutes of the others - but also in sound; this track is wholly instrumental, existing purely to set up an atmosphere for us to immerse ourselves deep into. At that, it succeeds. No Time For Love comes in with no introduction, synth sounds battling against a heart-thumping drumbeat before killer guitar riffs are brought into the fray. The vocals echo around the room as WILSON serenades us from the speakers; the lyrics aren’t complicated, essentially one chorus on loop, but there’s a beauty in simplicity.
Over My Shoulder turns the reverb up to eleven with its introductory riff, giving way to a trilling guitar backed by a drumbeat that feels very deliberate, each hit with a focused intention behind it. The warbling guitar is the centrepiece of this track, giving it shades of shoegaze that fit perfectly with the meditative vocals that are content to sit in the backseat. This is soon followed by All These Years, where a hint of experimentation reveals itself. It borders on industrial at points, though never quite crosses that line. Soaring guitars ring in our ears, and as the cavernous vocals rise up, there’s an electronic edge in a secondary, overlaid vocal track that ties in with the industrial instrumental.
With Where Do We Go From Here, it becomes obvious the teaser of experimentation in the previous track does not carry any false promises. There’s a very clear contrast in the instrumental; the track begins with a darkness-tinged riff, but soon a hypnotic synth tune adds a splash of colour to the monochrome world this album has created so far. There are many different elements at play here - rhythmic synthesisers, pounding drumbeats, ominous, massive-sounding vocals, and some incredibly memorable riffs. This is by far the standout on this album, not just a song but an entire soundscape for us to immerse ourselves in.
The Truth brings us to our penultimate track. Immediately, we’re on edge with the ominous instrumental; this is much further in the camp of industrial than before, and it’s steeped in an esoteric atmosphere that sends waves of unease running through us. The first two minutes are occupied by that soundscape, and it’s only after that we embrace the familiarity of the gothic riffs; they come in with an intense wall of sound, dominating the track entirely. The industrial elements complement them greatly, a unique contrast that keeps the track fresh in our minds. Title track and closer Pull Me Toward The Dark has an eerie beginning, rippling sounds of darkwave underneath a slow, deliberate drumbeat; deeper still is a subtle, whispered guitar strum that soon rises up to become the track’s main focus. The guitar wails and warbles, and the grandiose vocals echo the title as a chorus, encapsulating the melancholy meditativeness of this release in a few simple words. The track takes its time to fade out, leaving a trace of solemnity lingering with us.
Pull Me Toward The Dark is an album with clear themes; it’s a melancholic reflection on the passage of time that invites us not to listen along, but to fully immerse ourselves in its darkwave, gothic rock soundscapes and get lost in the cultivated atmosphere. There’s a simplicity to it - the vocals are secondary to these tracks, and when WILSON’s echoing serenades do grace our ears, the lyrics often consist of one or two repeated lines. That’s not a bad thing - with this album, the instrumentals speak for themselves and the words exist to complement them, instead of the other way around. This is a heavily immersive album; best listened to not on-the-go but in the darkness of the night, rain lashing at the windows.
Score: 8/10
Pull Me Toward The Dark will be released on February 27th 2026 via Disorder Recordings.
Words: Naomi Colliar Duff
Photos: Jeff Wilson
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